Prada: stylistic dissonance

milan fashion shows

Prada: stylistic dissonance

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The silhouette looks like a hazard against shape. On the chest, on the rim of the pants there are plastic embroideries that mimic giant jewels. The heels are very high with a wedge covered with a colored spat on the tip. “I wanted women’s day clothes to have an imposing, regal look” explains Miuccia. Her look is so intelligent and critical, so anchored to the present and hanging by the invisible thread of the future, that it takes your breath away by Simone Marchetti

There was a time in symphonic and operatic music, when the most genial composers found themselves at a crossroads: continue with melody or switch to dissonance? Many, without batting an eyelid, opted for the second choice, thinking that dodecaphony and screeching sounds better agreed with the times they lived in. The public grimaced, but then ended up loving this repertoire much more than the classic one.

For the new winter show, Miuccia Prada makes the same choice as the dodecaphonic composers: with a leap of style resembling a dissonant chord, she detaches herself completely from the prevailing aesthetic, in a way even from her own, to debut in a score where the clothes have the same harsh sound as notes that are too close together. First, the silhouette that looks like a hazard against shape. It’s a perimeter of extended fabric, an effect produced mainly by the very high heels with a wedge covered with a colored spat on the tip. The dizziness of these designs is given by the high waist, moved several inches towards the breast. Each garment, even the evening dresses, is inspired by the coats and becomes a disjointed apron that loses its sleeves and makes a clean cut in the skirt. It is worn one on top of the other with a heaviness effect given mainly by the meters of woolen cloth used to make it. On the chest, on the shoulders and on the rims of the pants there are plastic embroideries that mimic giant jewels, strictly fake, but absolutely flashy. "I wanted women’s day clothes to have an imposing, regal look. Unlike the past, you are no longer inspired by what you see in the streets, it’s no longer an example. That’s why I think we must react to the times we live in with the magnificence of a dress”, claims the designer a few minutes before the show. "I do not wish to make a proclamation”, continues stating “I am a defender of fashion and believe that this sector of industry and reality is underestimated and is not treated with due respect. Perhaps, this is another reason why I carried on following impulses and intuitions, without paying much attention to the outcome ". In fact, if you observe the collection closely, it is as if you are looking at a succession of clothes more than of thoughts made into clothes, as often happens on this catwalk. And perhaps this is the limitation or the beauty of this collection: its pretence to be a change of course in style and in silhouette, a sort of formal attempt to give voice to something that has remained a fantasy like a hoarse sound deep down one’s throat. "My query", concludes the designer, "is still to answer a question: what kind of beauty is possible today?" The answer she gave today is both dark and colored, it contemplates the use of superimposed geometric patterns and resembles the destruction and reconstruction of many classic wardrobe ghosts like the tuxedo, the army jacket or the man’s coat. The market will have the final word on this hard and sharp fresco, dissonant compared to what we have seen so far, just like the music of Strauss was compared to that of Mozart. What is certain, however, is the ability of this fashion house to cope with the past and with the style of the past with the desire to propose something new. With such an intelligent and critical look, so anchored to the present and hanging by the invisible thread of the future, as to take your breath away.